5 Effective Storytelling Tips That Will Help You Become a Better Leader

by Jeff Miller Coaching

When we talk about important leadership skills, one of the first things that comes to mind is usually storytelling. In areas like business and politics, being a great storyteller as a leader seems to be the prerequisite for achieving great deeds. As the late Steve Jobs once said, “The storyteller can set the values, vision, and agenda of an entire generation.”

But why is storytelling so effective? Well, it all comes down to a process called “neural coupling.” When we listen to a compelling story, the mirror neurons in our brains activate, and we start imagining ourselves in the storyteller’s shoes. Doing so allows us to create an emotional attachment to the story and connect it to our own situation at a human level. Of course, being a great storyteller isn’t that simple. If you’re looking to improve this leadership skill, start by taking note of the following five storytelling tips.

1. Get Personal

Studies show that people forget over 40% of the information they received by the next day. Want your story to have an impact? Try humanizing it by adding a personal anecdote. On top of lightening the mood, a good anecdote can help illustrate your perspective. For best results, find an interesting way to connect the anecdote to the business situation your story is about.

2. Provide Context

Presented by McMahon Careers

possible. Ideally, you’d keep each bit of the story within a time frame of 45 seconds while using clever hooks to keep the audience engaged. Remember: a punchy story with a clear message will make a bigger impact than a lengthy, rambling one.

4. Stay Humble

Another way to make the audience more interested in your story is to keep providing context throughout it. Aim to reinforce what your business is work- ing towards, how they plan to get there, and what changes you’re looking to make as a leader. The more you contextualize your story, the easier it will be for your employees to realize why the changes need to happen.

Many leaders dread the idea of bearing their failures in front of their employees and colleagues. However, it’s just that humility that can build trust in your story. If you show the capacity for learning and the willingness to adjust the course, you’re more likely to create a tight connection with your audience. Nobody has all the answers, so there’s no reason to pretend you do.

3. Be Brief

As people’s attention spans get shorter, leaders should focus on making their stories as brief and concise as

5. Seek Feedback

When you’re done telling your story, find out how the audience reacted to it by seeking their feedback. See what they remember most about your story and allow them to ask questions about it. Taking notes of the audience’s takeawa ys is the m ost reliable way to figure out what works and what doesn’t with your storytelling approach.

The USPTA Southern Conference was phenomenal! I highly recommend you aend next year. The informaon and knowledge were incredible, but simply geng to know all of the fantasc people involved with the USPTA alone was worth it!

USPTA Georgia has extended a special invitaon to their workshop in mid-July. Jorge Capestany will be one of many fantasc speakers presenng that day. The cost of the workshop also includes an aernoon pass to the Atlanta Open! We’ll be sure to email all the details to you once they are finalized. Our complimentary workshop has been set for Saturday, December 2nd. Oliver Reynolds, the head coach for the Samford University Men’ s Tennis Team, has been generous enough to let us use their indoor facility for our workshop. Thank you, Coach Reynolds! We plan to have a full slate of speakers with lunch and happy hour provided and at least one pickleball presentaon. More details later this year.

USPTA Arkansas chapter recently hosted its 2023 annual workshop at Rebsamen Tennis Center in Lile Rock. 28 pros and assistants aended Ken DeHart and his uniquely successful coaching presentaon. All presenters were fantasc. Big thanks to Chris Stuart, Jared Compton and the rest of the team at USTA Southern and USTA Arkansas for their connued support of our chapter .

The newly formed Arkansas High School tennis coaches associaon has been endorsed by the Arkansas Acvies Associaon as well as USTA Arkansas. Teaching professionals from around the state will be called upon to mentor some of our high school coaches. Regional workshops are happening now.

A big thank you to Atlanta Country Club for hosng all of us for the USPTA Southern Annual Meeng in Atlanta, GA. There were lots of great speakers that provided us with some very helpful and useful informaon on and off court. They presenters came from South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, and even as far as Philadelphia. Also, a big shout out to all of our vendors that where there show us the latest products in the industry. Finally, congrats to all the award winners and Todd Upchurch for his inducon into the USPTA Southern Hall of Fame. In July, we will have Jorge Capestany to fill our heads and our notebooks with great drills for all situaons, as well as entertain us with how best to grow our programs through instrucon and events. There will also be other great speakers that morning to help us grow before we all head to the Atlanta Open pro tennis matches. More details will be coming out soon about this fantasc opportunity. This will be a terrific event for all professionals and coaches.

Lafayee hosted the extremely knowledgeable Dr Mark Kovacs June 16t h at Oakbourne Country Club. It was a great showing with 40 registered guests, 11 of whom were non-USPTA members. This event was the second USPTA/USTA joint pros workshops that have been held over the past two years with the goal of engaging local pros/coaches with each other and their respecve CTA's. Great discussions were had in the classroom regarding the USPTA Cerficaon pathway, and Mark Kovacs shared his wealth of knowledge on serve and groundstroke mechanics. Thank you to all those who took the me to aend and priorize connuing educaon!

Come to the Wild Dunes Resort for the SC workshop 11/17-18. Wild Dunes (near Charleston) has twelve clay courts and five pickleball courts. In conjuncon with the USTA SC annual meeng there will be plenty of opportunity to earn educaonal credits, as well as enjoy social acvies. The aernoon of the 17th we plan to support the round robin play of the USTA SC volunteers. Shortly aer the round robin you are invited to the USTA SC social. The morning of the 18th we host a Cardio Tennis opportunity, led by our very own Bill Riddle. Our featured speaker on Saturday is Jorge Andrew. He is a master professional in both the USPTA and PTR. A pickleball cerficaon will be offered on November 18. Registraon is available at USPTA.com.

Our NC State Workshop will be held during the Winston-Salem Open on Sunday, August 20th from 9am unl 1pm. Speakers include the legendary tennis personalies of Mike Barrell and Bill Riddle. More informaon will be sent soon by email.

Our USPTA state workshop will be Saturday December 2nd in Knoxville. Last year we had over 30 pros/coaches show and we would love to improve on that number. We have a great lineup planned including three USPTA Master Pros! We are also planning a pickleball cerficaon workshop for the Sunday aer the state workshop. More details to follow.

The new Lewhich Tennis Center in Memphis connues to move toward compleon. No doubt it will be a wonderful facility for the Memphis community.

If you are looking to get some new apparel and footwear dont forget about the Tennis Warehouse discount you receive as a USPTA member!

Todd Upchurch, Hall of Fame 2023, Serve It Up Tennis Academy, Charloe NC

Give a brief descripon of your tennis/other career: I decided to leave college when I was 19 to follow my dream of teaching with a passion for tennis. Started coaching at a large public tennis center and worked in the pro shop. While there, I also coached high school boys and girls teams. Moved to a swim & racquet club, then tried to buy my own club in Georgia. I moved to Charloe, NC to become the Tennis Director at Carmel Country Club for 10 years. I le to start Serve It UP Tennis Academy in 2010 and have

Dan Beedle, 2023 Pro of the Year, Fort Sanders Health & Fitness, Knoxville, TN

Give a brief descripon of your tennis/other career: I started playing tennis Freshman year of high school, played 2 years at DIII Manchester College in Indiana then transferred to Ferris State University for their PTM program.

When did you start playing tennis? Freshman year of high school

What other sports did you play? Baseball, Swimming, Golf

What moved you to teach tennis? My high school coach made every tennis pracce fun. Once I found out about the Professional Tennis Management program at Ferris State I thought if your going to do something to earn a living for 40-50 years it might as well be been running it ever since.

When did you start playing tennis? Age 6

What other sports did you play? Baseball, basketball, wrestling

What moved you to teach tennis? Aer college, I had worked a few jobs but nothing ever interested me like tennis. When I found out you could make a living teaching tennis to others, I went all in and never looked back.

What is something people will be surprised to learn about you? I am a homebody and enjoy me by myself to recharge.

What are your hobbies? I like to mountain and road bike, listen to music and watch my kids play sports.

What is your favorite movie? Saving Private Ryan

Are you reading anything right now? Never something you enjoy.

What is something people will be surprised to learn about you? I am a huge Lord of the Rings fan (books and movies) and have been to one of the film locaons in New Zealand.

What are your hobbies? Aending conferences, traveling with my wife and playing with our pup Melbourne.

What is your favorite movie? The Lord of the Rings trilogy

Are you reading anything right now? Legacy –James Kerr

What is your favorite sports team? NFLPisburgh Steelers, NHL - Pisburgh Penguins, College Basketball - Butler Bulldogs

Who is your favorite player of all me? Rafa

Finished by David Goggins

What is your favorite sports team? Atlanta Braves

Who is your favorite player of all me? Andre Agassi

What person would you most like to have lunch with? Warren Buffe

What would you be doing if you were not in tennis? Coaching another sport or something in music.

If you had a "do over", what one thing would you have done differently in your teaching career? I believe everything has a reason for why it happened at the me it happened. If I changed anything I probably would have stayed at the country club longer. Owning your own business has had its ups and downs but it made me the pro I am today.

Nadal

What person would you most like to have lunch with? Jim Carrey

What would you be doing if you were not in tennis? I would probably be a Golf Instructor If you had a do over, what one thing would you have done differently in your teaching career? At the beginning of my career, I probably over focused on technique without discussing the taccal component. I was teaching the players how to hit the ball but not how to play the game.